Ghost Rider (2022) # 8

"Skeleton Crew"

Cover Date: January 2023; On Sale Date: November 2022

Writer: Benjamin Percy; Artist: Cory Smith; Inker: Oren Junior; Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham; Colorist: Bryan Valenza; Editor: Darren Shan; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Kael Ngu

At a motel in Colorado, Johnny Blaze and Talia Warroad look over the map of newspaper clippings about demonic activity and discover that their next point of investigation needs to be Chicago. Meanwhile, at the Unknown Cemetery, the aftermath of the battle between Alabaster and Zeb is discovered by one of the other Night Magicians named Wurm, who finds Zeb as the only one still alive.

On a tree-lined road in Illinois, Blaze and Talia are riding in her custom hearse toward Chicago. The vehicle is attacked by a horde of demonic, skinned forest animals, and Blaze is unable to get the Ghost Rider to come out due to the lack of innocent lives being threatened. Talia uses her magic to allow Blaze to tap in to the Ghost Rider's power, transforming the hearse into a hellfire powered vehicle that gets them out of the forest and into Chicago. They don't realize that they are being tracked by Exhaust.

Back at the Unknown Cemetery, Zeb and Wurm investigate why Alabaster turned against them and find another one of the Night Magicians, a werewolf named Vulka, chained up in a crypt. They also find a painting on the wall of Blackheart, who Alabaster was working for. In Chicago, Blaze and Talia pull over and Blaze is able to see the demonic influence corrupting the city. Blaze asks Talia to help him summon the Ghost Rider again so he can be used to point them to the source of the evil. Talia kisses Blaze and triggers the transformation, with Johnny telling her to run as he transforms.

THE ROADMAP

This is Legacy # 251 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.

The fight between Alabaster and Zeb occurred in Ghost Rider (2022) # 6.

CHAIN REACTION

Johnny and Talia take a road trip to Chicago (cue the Blues Brothers soundtrack) and the Night Magicians start to rally. Could things actually be happening in this series to progress the plot?

I like the idea of Blaze and Talia investigating demonic hotspots across the country, it's a solid hook to the series after it kind of meandered about in the last few issues. I also really like the idea that Chicago is this sick bed of demonic corruption, but only Johnny can see it when he's looking at it through the Spirit of Vengeance's eyes. The atmosphere in this series continues to be dark and overwhelmingly oppressive with all of the vile stuff Percy and Smith concoct almost in passing as they trudge along with the story. It's impressive on a visceral level, especially with stuff like the skinned animal attack on the car.

Unfortunately, there are more negatives than positives with this comic, as it makes the egregious decision to leave the Ghost Rider himself off the table until a final panel at the end. I like Johnny and his budding relationship with Talia, but I also read this comic to see the titular character doing stuff. I'm also not engaged at all with the Night Magicians and their internal political struggles. It doesn't help that Percy skips over the fight between Alabaster and Zeb and goes straight to the aftermath, which kind of robs the reader of some much needed payoff for this subplot.

Cory Smith continues to be the MVP of this series, taking Percy's more demented ideas and producing them with horrific clarity. The animal attack sequence is handled beautifully, making it seem like a genuine life-threatening event for the characters. I do worry about Talia's poor car, which seems to take a beating every other issue. Speaking of the car, seeing it in all it's hellfire-infused glory was a great visual as well.

This is a comic that is a microcosm of the series as a whole: lots of great individual moments but not enough connective tissue between them to make them more than brief flashes of brilliance. Here's hoping next issue will bring more actual Ghost Rider into the mix, as he was sorely missed here.